


after "you"

by nanagganan



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: "does this count as angst?" i ask myself as i close google docs, Implied Sexual Content, Kyungsoo's Birthday Week 2021, M/M, Movie: My Tomorrow Your Yesterday (2016), Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29155272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanagganan/pseuds/nanagganan
Summary: If the stars were wiser, they would have made Kyungsoo miss the morning train, forcing him to take the bus to campus. If the stars were kinder, they wouldn't have let the two meet at all. Instead, they let Kyungsoo experience his "forever"——even if it ended up being less than that.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Do Kyungsoo | D.O
Comments: 16
Kudos: 44
Collections: Challenge #13 — Like a Movie





	after "you"

**Author's Note:**

> idk if you've seen the movie but it was my bisexual awakening ngl nana komatsu AND sota fukushi are so *chef's kiss*
> 
> also, if you haven't seen the movie, obviously these are **very spoilery**
> 
> special thanks to **M** for proofreading this for me, i don't know what i'll do without you <3 

It was a cold winter morning when Kyungsoo first saw him. 

He stood a few seats away from where Kyungsoo was, leaning against the railings next to the carriage doors. The sun was merciless— a strong wake-up call to all of Goyang’s sleepy inhabitants, forcing them to make haste with their day.

_And yet—_

There he was, like a cat stretching its joints, basking in the warmth of the sun. His soft skin had glowed under the sunrays, flaxen hair a contrast against the grey of his sweater, eyes lost somewhere far away into the distance.

Kyungsoo hadn’t realized he was staring until their eyes met and the man shyly smiled.

_Hook, line, and sinker._

Maybe that’s why Kyungsoo had chased the man out, breath coming out in harsh puffs as he struggled to catch up before the man embarked on the next carriage. 

“Doh Kyungsoo,” he had said hurriedly, still panting, “that’s my name. What’s yours?”

“Byun Baekhyun.”

“Will you—” Kyungsoo hesitated, nervous. He had never done anything like this before, “will you go on a date with me, Byun Baekhyun-ssi?”

Kyungsoo didn’t expect the man to fall into tears immediately— those gorgeous eyes instantaneously expressing all forms of grief and loss. Kyungsoo had panicked, scared he had made a stranger cry despite barely touching the man.

Baekhyun’s words, though, sounded happier than his appearance suggests. 

“Yes, I’d love to.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


“What a nice sketch you got there.”

Kyungsoo turns around, blinking at the sight of Baekhyun peering down, hazel eyes crinkling in delight. 

Baekhyun's smile grows wider, “You should turn that into a painting. Bet it’d be exhibited in the wall of fame next month.”

Kyungsoo pushes the sketchbook away from his face, moving it around to see the lines from different perspectives— still, nothing changes, just a sketch of one of the tigers at the zoo. “It’s just chicken scratch, nothing fancy,” he says. Baekhyun hums as if in mock disbelief. “How would you know if it’s good when it’s still nothing now?”

A smile.

“I know so.”

* * *

_A month later, Kyungsoo would be staring at the tiger painting, standing proud on the faculty walls_ — _words of praise penned in the neat handwriting of his professor right next to it._

_Baekhyun was right._

* * *

Three weeks into the relationship, Kyungsoo had asked Baekhyun to stay the night. The rain outside had moved like the rotor blades of a helicopter and they were both soaked to the bone. It was the logical thing to do, Kyungsoo had reasoned, but he knew more than anyone that he sought the company.

They huddled up on Kyungsoo’s carpet, at the foot of the bed— Baekhyun dressed down to an all-black getup hastily pulled from the closet, smelling like the lavender softener Kyungsoo used on all his laundry. Late-night talks had progressed into cuddles and then some.

As Kyungsoo stares at the way Baekhyun’s face was blessed by the moonlight, pale skin a contrast against the blues of Kyungsoo’s love bites, he says, “Let’s go on a trip together, just you and I.”

Instantaneously, Baekhyun moved to get up, anxiously looking at the clock as he gathered the clothes lying haphazardly on the floor. “I have to go,” he says, the clock turns to 11:30 PM.

Kyungsoo doesn’t have it in him to question Baekhyun so he offers to walk Baekhyun to the station instead.

* * *

Two days ago, they had their first fight.

Baekhyun was being his usual flighty self— self-detained emotions bubbling underneath pale skin, waiting to double over as they let the silence stretch on between them. 

Then, everything exploded. Baekhyun had left shortly after, leaving no room for Kyungsoo to explain.

Kyungsoo had chased him down— to that same train station where they first met. He had repeatedly called Baekhyun’s number, again and again, had visited the bookstore Baekhyun worked at, had visited their favorite _tteokbokki_ stand by the park, still— nothing. 

That is until Kyungsoo finds the tiny book titled “Remembering You” silently waiting for him on top of his kitchen counter.

The first page reads: _January 14_ _th_ — _His April 28th,_ followed by a detailed recount of a classroom meeting.

A similar pattern on the next entry: _January 26_ _th_ — _His April 16th,_ date in Hongdae. 

Everything here is ...new.

As Kyungsoo continues to read up until its latest entry, he feels the dread latching unto the back of his throat.

* * *

“You’re back.”

Baekhyun sees the tiny journal clutched in Kyungsoo’s hands and doesn't miss the tears welling up in the other’s eyes. He knows what’s coming.

“You’re not from here, are you?”

A solemn nod, “No, I’m from somewhere far away.”

“Then why did you—”

“I saved you— when I was 38 and you were 12, the lake at Ilsan Park where—” 

“—I nearly drowned. That, that was you? The man who desperately saved me was you?”

And another, “I also saw you in middle school when you lost Meokmul to illness. I comforted you as you cried behind the bridge near the—”

“— _sundaeguk_ shop, yes I remember.”

“I-I’ve had dreams about you ever since I was born. Thirteen years ago, when I was thrown into this world out of nowhere,” Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo, eyes warm, “I knew it was to save you.”

Then...

  
  


“This is the only time in our lives where we can meet each other as equals. We’re both 25 now so by the time I turn 24, I won't be able to see you again.”

“So, we have till May 6th?”

Baekhyun smiles, tight-lipped, “I want to make sure to spend the rest of my days here with you.”

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  


_“I want to be with you forever,” Kyungsoo says, holding tightly onto Baekhyun’s deft fingers. He blinks back the tears threatening to spill._

_Baekhyun’s eyes crinkle as he smiles and it makes Kyungsoo’s heart rate pick up, thumping full of life like how it always should be when he’s with Baekhyun. “Me too,” Baekhyun echoes, “I want to be with you forever, too.”_

  
  
  
  



End file.
